Staff Picks No. 125
City of Ashes : Matthew Westerby, Bent Duo, John P. Hastings
Judson Memorial
December 6th-7th 2025
My access point to this project is that I love the projects John and Bent Duo create. Check out John. Check out Bent Duo. When they invite me to something, I make every effort to be there. They have all allowed me to experience time and space in ways that I did not know possible. Many times. In many spaces. So, I will be there for this collaboration with choreographer, Matthew Westerby.
Staffer: Theresa Buchheister
Caretake of Her : kanishk pandey, Clara Livingston, Whimzee Hanna, Attilio Rigotti, Arjun Biju, Mia Corbett, Leo Egger, Akiyo Komatsu, Emma Callahan
Loading Dock
December 13th-14th 2025
Craving some Loading Dock time before Exponential blasts off? Staff Picker kanishk pandey has a new workshop to share. The event's got a bong for art and features Arjun Biju, who's always got the goods and grace. Intrigued!
Staffer: Billy McEntee
Capricorn 29 : Alex Hare, Julia Izumi
The Tank
Tuesday December 2nd2025
This pandemic-era web treat is now getting an in-person, communal screening with live music preceding it. This internet-film involves unsuccessful 30-year-olds being killed (hell?), Helen Shaw called it "actually brilliant" (heaven??), so why not come (right???)
Staffer: Billy McEntee
Everything is Here : Peggy Stafford, Meghan Finn, Lisa Fagan, Jan Leslie Harding, Mia Katigbak, Susannah Millonzi, Petronia Paley, Pete Simpson, Richard Hoover, Patricia Marjorie, Yang Yu, Shane Rettig, Olivia Jursik, Zoë Parrish, Jessie Char
59E59
December 3rd-December 20th 2025
I think we need more works about older people / the elderly / whatever phrase suits you best. I know I'm in the minority about this because art is a young person's game for those of us occasionally feeling the weight of what can be a gerontocracy, but it takes a really special kind of writing to showcase the worlds of those allegedly in their twilight. Life's the greatest sham we've got, and I think this new play may just remind you to keep an eye out for your own golden days yet to come.
Staffer: Reuven Glezer
The Fricks’ POMP! : Emma "Mags" Magnus, Madison Iosia, Dash Perry, Patrick Voss Davis
The Slipper Room
December 5th-6th 2025
After every POMP! show, I watch the footage on Instagram and ask myself why the hell I wasn't there. Don't make the same mistake I've made: get thee to the Slipper Room for some ass-out buffoonery. Emma Magnus and Madison Iosia have cooked up a Renaissance-flavoured burlesque fever dream awash in ribbons and stockings, and you know what? That's a world I want to live in for the night. Also, there's a character named "Debt Giovanni," whose rotating cast of guest stars are announced Oh Mary!-style, and I'm really into his whole deal.
Staffer: Leah Plante-Wiener
Moor Mother / Pussy Riot : Moor Mother, Pussy Riot
Powerhouse Arts
Tuesday December 2nd 2025
Powerhouse: International has paired together "two uncompromising forces" for a night of sound and performance in the round. Moor Mother (Camae Ayewa), whose practice is rooted in Black Quantum Futurism and built from field recordings, archival material, and sound collage, debuts her new band, while Pussy Riot's Nadya Tolokonnikova, famously imprisoned in Russia in 2012 for her collective's anti-Putin work (and put on Russia's most wanted listed as recently as 2023!), returns to New York, her voice and message strong as ever.
Staffer: Leah Plante-Wiener
Holy shit. Go to this.
Staffer: Theresa Buchheister
BUM BUM (or, this farce has Autism) : Dave Osmundsen
HERE
December 4th-14th 2025
Who doesn't love a farce? And, as the subtitle says, "this farce has Autism"! Let's goooooo. HERE is beloved, this work is a social critique, and it centers around a live telethon benefiting “Singing and Hearing Autistic Greatness” (aka SHAG...or SAHAG). I love me a messy acronym.
Staffer: Billy McEntee
Das Rauschgift : Travis Amiel, Cosimo Pori, Nina Lucia Rodriguez, Arzu Salman
Box of Moonlight
December 4th-21st 2025
Das Besties are back, now with more besties! If you've caught one of Das Besties' previous shows, you know there is clowning and friendship and sweat and wherever fear and joy meet. Das Rauschgift has all that and more: drugs. Come on down to the shimmering carnival.
Staffer: Billy McEntee
Das Besties have a three week run. Do not be foolish and wait too long to get a ticket. Travis and Cosimo have charm for days but more than that, I am always surprised at their shows. I think that may be my favorite way to feel at a show. I honestly cannot think of anything I want more at a fucking show… and it is wild because a) it is so hard to come across and b) you truly never know when it will hit. But I am ready.
*side note - shock and surprise are not the same thing
Staffer: Theresa Buchheister
Crossing the Water : Rawya El Chab, Jesse Freedman, Ettie Pin, Jacqueline Scaletta, Omar Dewachi
The Brick
December 5th-21st 2025
I saw the Gestating Baby iteration of this and loved every minute, but I also love everything that comes from the mind of Rawya El Chab, an astounding artist and writer who has been developing a trilogy of theatrical works about the death of the Lebanese left. And helmed by fellow magician and all around excellent artist-pal Jesse Freedman, so you know the night will be one that will linger in your memory.
Staffer: Billy McEntee
This collaboration is exciting, as each of these artists has a million intricate wheels spinning at all times, moving at such speed that they also freeze time to reflect and process. I guess they are all magicians, in a way. I did not get to experience the Gestating Baby, so the news that it would happen for three weeks a year later was amazing. And now it is coming to pass. See you there.
Staffer: Theresa Buchheister
CATCH 80 : The Rubin, Malcom-X Betts, Jennifer Kidwell, RED & Jeremy Katetsky/doxies, SPANGLISH SHIT, Ilana Harris-Babou, Hannah Kallenbach, Tatyana Tenenbaum, Marissa Joyce Stamps, Wonderful Cringe
LifeWorld
Saturday December 6th 2025
Many moons ago in the vast realm of Bushwick, a young woman strained her eyesight through layers of car exhaust and LED light pollution to wish upon a star. "How I love the arduous journeys I must make to go to CATCH," she murmured, "but just for once, couldn't it be walking distance from my apartment?" Sadly, the star was just a plane flying into LaGuardia, but her wish came true: CATCH 80 was to be presented at Lifeworld. On December 6th, the beloved venue and performance series--both thriving in their second lives--will join forces for an unforgettable night of performance, community, and free beer.
Staffer: Leah Plante-Wiener
Things That Burn Easily : Vedrana Klepica, Marija Andrijašević, Hrvojka Begović, Lea Jevtić, Vladimir Aleksić
La MaMa
December 11th-14th 2025
One of two staged performances from FROM THE OTHER SIDE, a December lineup of Balkan artists at La MaMa (check out the rest of their offerings!), Things That Burn Easily tells the story of a family living on a piece of land affected by some great catastrophe. This is a piece where "the only reliable certainty comes from social and societal isolation and autonomous construction of [...] systems of survival and belief," and if you know my playwriting in any capacity, you know that that's my bread and butter. Promotional material features a whole lot of dead leaves onstage. Hot!
Staffer: Leah Plante-Wiener